


Half Empty or Half Full?

by JKlog



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 00:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19878829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JKlog/pseuds/JKlog
Summary: Written for the Sentinel Thursday Challenge 631 – full.





	Half Empty or Half Full?

Challenge 631 – full

Title: Half empty or half full?

Author: JKlog

Category: Gen

Word count: 620

A/N: Thanks to Bluewolf for the beta.

"No, Chief. I'm not going to do that test again. Not after you made me drink the sour milk."

Jim looked askance at the three glasses of water, which were in front of him on the dining table, half filled.

"That was not my fault! Also, that test went wrong. We have to do it again. As you can see, there is no sour milk in sight. And this time I won’t cover your eyes. I don’t think you can perceive any color change in the water, I put in very little of the ingredients you have to taste." Blair narrowed his eyes. "You can’t perceive it, can you?"

"No, I can’t." Although in reality, the glass on the right had a slightly browner tint than the other two. Surely, it had vanilla. But he didn’t say anything to the inquisitive anthropologist. Jim smiled inwardly. _These tests of the sense of taste are useless._

"Very good. Now take the first glass on the left and taste the water."

Jim tasted the water. Easy.

"It has salt, Chief," he said, bored.

"Perfect. Now try the one in the middle."

Jim tried and again it was very easy.

"It's white pepper."

"Okay. Now the last one."

Jim tasted the water from the last glass and got a surprise, which was reflected on his face. It wasn’t vanilla. It was a very sweet taste.

"Brown sugar?"

Blair smirked. "No, it's not brown sugar, Jim."

Jim took the glass and looked at it carefully. It was definitely something brown. He tasted the water again. It was very sweet, in an infinitesimal way, of course.

"If it's not vanilla and it's not brown sugar, then it's ... caramel?"

Blair still had a smirk on his face. "You had seen it, right? The change of color in the water."

Jim put on an expression of regret. Blair had caught him.

"Yes, Chief. I saw it. I thought it was vanilla."

"This is to prove that one of your senses may be affected by another of your senses. In this case, your perception of taste was affected by your perception through sight. You saw that the water had a brown tinge and you were conditioned to feel the taste of vanilla. That affected your perception."

Jim was amazed. There was a point to do these tests, after all.

"You mean I have to try to isolate my senses from each other?"

"Not always. There are situations in which your senses can collaborate with each other. But in others that can be deceptive, as in this case. You should try not to make assumptions."

"I get it. Is there any other test?" Jim hoped not, the Jags game was going to start on television.

"No. You can go watch the game." Blair started making notes in his notebook. Suddenly, he looked up.

"Tell me one thing, Jim. How is this glass, half full, or half empty?"

Jim looked at him and laughed. Blair was there, with the glass of brown water raised in his hand and a smirk on his face.

"Half full, of course." Now, Blair laughed.

"Actually, this test also served to see the limits of your sense of taste. You can’t imagine how little of these substances I put in the water. Your sense of taste is incredible, Jim. Like your other four senses."

Jim went to sit on the couch, feeling quite satisfied with himself and turned on the television. Blair finished making his notes, put the notebook on the table and went to sit next to Jim. He also wanted to watch the game.

"By the way, the caramel was a guess. What strange substance did that last glass have, Chief?"


End file.
